Stuck on Christmas Eve
by AnimationNut
Summary: Morgan and Reid get stranded on the side of an empty road on Christmas Eve. Only hilarity can be the outcome. For the Christmas Gift Exchange on CCOAC. Merry Christmas, 68luvcarter!


**For the Christmas Gift Exchange on Chit Chat on Author's Corner. The prompts are; I'll be Home for Christmas, Christmas cookies, snowman and Christmas Tree.**

**Merry Christmas ****68luvcarter! :D**

**Stuck on Christmas Eve**

"You have _got _to be kidding me."

Spencer Reid rubbed his hands together and cast a frown at his friend and teammate, Derek Morgan. "It was your responsibility to make sure we had enough gas in the tank."

Derek Morgan shot a glare at the young BAU agent and looked around with his hands on his hips. The bitter wind was harsh and the snow was falling thickly. Their idle SUV was resting on the side of the road. Reid peered in both directions and sighed heavily, a gust of frozen breath rising cloud-like in front of his face. With this amount of snow, it would be a miracle if another car showed up in the next hour.

"A snowplough has to come by sometime." Morgan muttered as he zipped up his jacket, shivering against the frigid wind.

"Wouldn't they be on holidays?" Reid asked dubiously. "It is Christmas Eve, after all."

Morgan opened his arms out wide, gesturing towards the endless stretch of fluffy white snow. "If I were a snowplough driver, I wouldn't be taking a day off during this."

"You're only saying that because we're trapped in the middle of nowhere in freezing weather. Besides, I'm sure a Christmas with the family is more important than a blizzard."

Another glare was aimed at Reid and Morgan stormed over to the silent SUV, his sneakers sinking into the wet snow. He yanked the driver's door open leaned inside.

"What are you hoping to accomplish?" Reid asked as Morgan started to twist the key in the ignition for what must have been the hundredth time.

Morgan ignored his companion and Reid rolled his eyes and tried his cell phone again.

There was still no service.

"This is ridiculous..." he muttered, slipping the slim device in his coat pocket. "Why did the cell signal have to be knocked out today? Why is it always me?"

"Quit whining." Morgan called as he fiddled with the dials on the radio. He had given up on trying to get the car starting (he finally accepted that they really were out of gas) and was trying to see if the radio worked while the car was idle. Some tunes might make the situation less distressing.

"This is your fault." Reid muttered under his breath, running a gloved hand through his dark blonde hair. Unfortunately, it was still loud enough for Morgan to hear.

"This is not my fault!" Morgan hollered to be heard over the whistling wind. He shoved himself out of the car and whirled around to face the younger agent. "It's not like I asked for the car to run out of gas. And it's not my fault that this happens to be the year when we get a heavy snowfall on Christmas Eve!"

"One; you were supposed to make sure we had enough gas in the tank." Reid ticked the points of his fingers as he listed them. "Two; you just had to go Christmas shopping at the last possible minute, and in Fredericksburg! It couldn't be in Quantico, could it?"

"Okay, you didn't have to come with me!" Morgan retorted. "You could have said no. And a lot of people shop on Christmas Eve, Reid."

"Yeah, people like you..." Reid muttered. His cheeks were turning red from the bitter wind and he stalked over to the vehicle.

Morgan arched an eyebrow as the young agent yanked the passenger's door open. "It's actually colder in the car than it is out here, Reid."

"It only seems like it." Reid responded as he climbed into the car and slammed the door shut to shield him from the swirling snowflakes. Morgan rolled his eyes and looked around hopefully, but no car miraculously appeared. With a sigh, Morgan flipped his hood up and hurried over to the SUV as the wind picked up.

"Reid!" Morgan snapped. "Unlock the door, Reid!"

Reid pretended not hear him. The genius leaned back in the cold seat and hummed along to his music player, a slight smile playing against his lips. Morgan hammered on the glass angrily. "Reid, if you don't open this door, I'll sic Garcia on you!"

Eyes widening, Reid decided that the fun of seeing Morgan freeze his butt off wouldn't be worth the wrath of Penelope. Garcia may love him, but she loved Derek just a bit more.

Reid reached over and flipped the lock. Morgan hastily threw open the door and jumped inside. Reid winced against the flurry of snowflakes that blew inside and helped Morgan shut the door against the roaring wind.

Morgan slapped his companion across the head. "Ouch!" Reid whined, rubbing the back of his head and pouting slightly.

"That wasn't funny, Pretty Boy." Morgan growled, crossing his arms and glaring at the snow-covered windshield.

"You had the keys, _genius_."

A pause filled the vehicle as Morgan dug around his pocket and pulled out the silver keys. Reid smirked, and Morgan slapped him again. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"For making me look like an idiot."

The two sat in silence for a minute. "So..." Reid began, twiddling his thumbs. "Did you manage to get the radio to work?"

Morgan glanced at the music player clutched in Reid's hands pointedly. "Just died..." Reid muttered, stuffing it in pocket.

"That's karma for you." Morgan teased. When Reid opened his mouth Morgan quickly held up a hand. "If you start spouting off how karma may or may not exist or give me some dumb facts, I will physically throw you out of this car."

Reid shut up and slumped in his seat, annoyed. "Yeah, I managed to get the radio to work. I don't know how it runs without the car turned on, but it does." Morgan shrugged and twisted the dial.

_I'm dreaming tonight of a place I love  
Even more then I usually do  
And although I know it's a long road back  
I promise you_

I'll be home for Christmas  
You can count on me  
Please have snow and mistletoe  
And presents under the tree  
Christmas Eve will find me  
Where the love light beams  
I'll be home for Christmas  
If only in my dreams

Christmas Eve will find me  
Where the love light beams  
I'll be home for Christmas  
If only in my dreams  
If only in my dreams

A smirk tugged at Reid's lips as Morgan hastily turned the radio off. He cast a glance at the winter wonderland outside and said, "Well. That's appropriate."

"We will make it back in time for Christmas, Reid." Morgan stated firmly, wrapping his arms tightly around his body and glared out the window. "I hate snow..."

"Garcia will kill us if we don't make it to the office party tonight." Reid muttered.

Morgan smirked and gestured towards the back seat. "I think I can ease her anger...Baby Girl never could resist a pretty package."

Ignoring any possible implications in that statement, Reid peered into the backseat at the collection of brightly wrapped gifts. "So...any of them for me?"

"Yeah. I got it when you were at some science geek store."

Now curious, Reid scanned the various gifts and tried to guess which one could be his and ignored geek comment. "Someone better come down this road soon, or else we'll freeze to death."

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic?"

"I'm just being realistic!" Reid defended, wrapping his coat tightly around his thin body. The car was indeed decreasing in temperature, making every breath they let out a cloud of frozen air. "If we stay in this temperature for too long without heat, there's a good possibility we could die."

Morgan swatted him upside the head for the third time that day. "I don't want no depressing thoughts on Christmas, Reid. Where's your Christmas spirit?"

Reid bit his lip and stared out the window. He had not felt the Christmas spirit since he was a small child. Ever since his parents got divorced and his mother got sick, Christmas passed over his household and his spirit had died long ago. "Apparently, I don't have it."

Morgan noted the change in tone and decided to drop it. Reid was sensitive about his past home life, and he would not invade the genius' boundaries. They listened to the whistling wind for a moment before Morgan's stomach growled loudly.

Reid smirked. "Hungry?"

"No, my stomach is just singing." Morgan replied sarcastically. He turned around and pulled a backpack from the back of the SUV. Reid arched an eyebrow. "What? I always bring a snack with me!" Morgan defended. "You never know when you'll get hungry."

"...well, that explains why every crime scene we go to begins to smell like salt and vinegar chips after a while." Reid muttered.

Morgan pulled a plastic bag of sugar cookies from the backpack's depths. The cookies were cut in shapes of Christmas trees, wreaths and snowmen. "Uh...did you bake those?" Reid asked. He would be very surprised if his companion said yes.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Morgan glared at Reid. "What's the matter? Think I can't cook?"

Reid kept his mouth shut and did not answer. Morgan scowled and grabbed a Christmas cookie that was covered in red and green sprinkles and thrust it in Reid's face. "Go on! Eat it! It won't kill you."

The genius looked at the cookie as if it would come alive and bite him. Hesitantly, he picked the cookie from Morgan's hands and took a small bite. After some slow chewing, he blushed sheepishly and took a bigger bite, ignoring Morgan's triumphant look. "...you can cook."

"Told you."

The dark man glanced at his watch and sighed. "The party starts in an hour. I can't believe not one car has driven by yet,,,"

Reid pressed his face against the glass and squinted outside. The snowstorm was finally beginning to die down. "Wanna build a snowman?"

"Have you lost it Reid?"

Reid shrugged and pulled on his mittens and flipped his hood up. "Sitting here in the cold car isn't going to accomplish anything, and the snow is starting to die down a bit. Besides, I wanna build a snowman."

The boy threw the car door open and Morgan braced himself against the chilly breeze. Reid raced through the snow and immediately bent down, gathering the damp powder in his hands and began the process of making a snowman.

"The kid is insane..." Morgan muttered. But after a minute of sitting in silence, he decided that Reid might be on to something. He climbed out of the still car and started to make his own snowman.

_Maybe this isn't so bad after all..._

...

Morgan struggled to hold back a snicker as he stared at Reid's creation. "Reid, I think your snowman is sick..."

The young man shot Morgan an irritated look. Yeah, his snowman was a bit lopsided and uneven, and his nose was an acorn and his arms were different lengths, but so what? "Yours isn't that perfect either..." Reid snapped, crossing his arms and pouting slightly.

True, Morgan's snowman wasn't fantastic, but it was standing straight and the three snowballs were about the perfect size.

Just then, a squirrel scampered through the fluffy snow and bounded up to the snowman. It scurried up its body and plucked the acorn/nose before hurrying back off. Reid blinked and Morgan burst into hysterically laughter. "Reid! Reid! The squirrel got ya nose! Get it? Got ya nose?"

"Ba-hum-bug..." Reid grumbled. He tried to ignore Morgan's stream of giggles and removed his cell phone once more. He nearly collapsed with relief when he found three bars. "Finally..."

He quickly dialled Garcia and waited for the spunky woman to answer. "Garcia? It's me, Reid."

"You're late!" Garcia snapped. "You are five minutes late to Garcia's Fantabulous Christmas Extravaganza!"

"Well, we're kinda stuck, Garcia."

"Whoa, hold up. Whose _we _and what do you mean stuck?" Garcia demanded.

Reid rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...by _we _I mean Morgan and I, and we ran out of gas and now we're stuck...somewhere. Can you just track my cell and find us?"

Garcia agreed and a minute later she had pinpointed their exact position. A while later a truck came down the road with a snowplough attached to the front. Morgan arched an eyebrow as Rossi swung the passenger door open. "Need a lift?" He teased.

"It's about time!" Morgan grumbled. With Reid's help, they loaded all of his packages into the truck and locked up the SUV. "We'll call a tow truck tomorrow if possible. Hopefully the roads will be clear by then..."

Without warning Reid shot out an arm and shoved him backwards into the snow. Morgan yelped in shock and watched in disbelief as Reid leapt into the passenger seat and swung the door closed.

Scowling, Morgan got up and brushed the snow off of him. "You are so gonna pay for that later Pretty Boy," he warned as he squeezed in with his multiple packages.

Rossi snickered. "I'm sure you boys had a lovely Christmas Eve."

The two paused before glancing at each other and smiling slightly. "It wasn't so bad, actually." Reid commented.

"It was kind of fun." Morgan agreed.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." The older man bent down and pulled out a plastic container of Christmas cookies. "Garcia figured you'd be hungry, so she had me bring these along to hold you until we get to her 'Extravaganza'."

Reid grabbed the container and stared in disbelief at the cookies-the cookies that looked exactly liked the ones Morgan had earlier. Accusingly, he whipped around and pointed at him. "LIAR!" He cried.

As the two began to bicker, Rossi rolled his eyes and put the gear into drive. "It's gonna be a long trip back..." He sighed.

**So, this was my very first Criminal Minds story. Reviews are appreciated, but flames are not. I tried to keep the characters in character :P**

**I, of course, do not own Criminal Minds.**

**Merry (early) Christmas to all :D!**


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